So You Want to Become a Facilitator Consultant?

Facilitator-Consultant

We have two gifts for you today! The first is from one of our associates, a beautiful caring woman, Eileen Pippins. She works as an organizational (OD) consultant and trainer in Social Justice areas. She talks about some of the joys and challenges of being a consultant/facilitator and what she’s learned (especially during the pandemic). She also shares her admiration for a brilliant woman in the black community who has inspired her. We wanted to have a small gesture of honoring Black History Month in the USA.

Our second gift to you is handout on THE JOURNEY OF BECOMING A PROCESS FACILITATOR CONSULTANT. We are featuring these two gifts because we know the pandemic is causing so much change and opportunity to reflect on what is important to us in our lives. And, many of you may be considering becoming external process facilitators or consultants.

When you are a consultant you may only do process facilitation for clients who pay you for that work. Or, you may combine facilitation with work such as what Eileen does in organizational development consulting. This kind of consultant can assess where your organization may need some help. Then based on their recommendations, OD consultants use process facilitation skills to make adjustments and improvements. Wherever you are within your own leadership or career journey, we want to help you to continue to grow as facilitative leaders. The external consultant choice is one of many. It is one that has given me tremendous satisfaction over the last 25 years. And, you know now, that I am transitioning out of my leadership role but actively passing it on to others. I cherish this part of my journey.

Let’s hear form Eileen Pippins about her journey as an OD consultant and facilitator during the pandemic. She offers helpful examples, stories and tips on competencies you may wish to develop.

Download: The Journey of Becoming a Process Facilitator Consultant

If you want to assess where you are or need to be in the journey of a facilitator consultant, please download this handout…

Resources

Eileen Pippins
Learning and Organizational Development Consultant

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eileen-pippins-9b5b6b32/

Website: https://www.eileenpippinsconsulting.com/

One of Eileen’s heroines: Carol H. Williams
https://carolhwilliams.com/team/


Past blogs of interest/relevance:

You met another Black associate, Shelby Pierce last month in this blog:

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See all of our Associates and watch for interviews with more coming in future blogs:

Barbara MacKay

Barbara loves “everything facilitation”. She thinks BIG! She loves working with other facilitators around the globe to create transformational results for client groups. She loves teaching others how to do that. She loves presenting at global facilitator conferences. She loves certifying new professional facilitators. If you also love what process facilitation can do for the world, connect with her – virtually or in person. She believes facilitation processes, used well, will provide the roadmap to a more just and sustainable world.

2 Comments

  1. John on August 8, 2021 at 10:50 am

    Hi Barbara,
    Reading the article I why a facilitator should also be a consultant and why being a consultant is not enough without being a facilitator. Please help sxplain to me.

    • Barbara MacKay on September 6, 2021 at 1:35 pm

      Hi John, Let me go back and read this again as I am not sure that is what I meant to communicate.

      In the meantime, what is important I think is to be aware that all roles are distinct. You need to be clear with yourself and the client/group, when you are offering advice (consultant) and when you are only providing a process for them to follow (facilitator). A consultant provides their knowledge and expertise about a subject. A facilitator strives to not do this even if they know something about the subject. The facilitator helps the group find their own wisdom and direction.

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